Stephen Curry believes he’s the best player in the world

Who’s the best basketball player in the world? Stephen Curry would like to interject.

In an interview with TIME this week, Curry, the reigning NBA MVP and leader of the defending champion Golden State Warriors was asked, point-blank, if he was the best player in the world. He thought so.

“In my mind, yes,” Curry said. “That’s how I have confidence out there that I can play at a high level every night. I don’t get into debates, arguing with people about why I am versus somebody else. I feel like anybody who’s at the level I’m trying to be at, if you don’t think that when you’re on the floor, then you’re doing yourself a disservice.”

That discussion has largely centered around LeBron James for the past decade or so, with Kobe Bryant part of the discussion in the earlier end of that timeframe. But Curry’s performance not only last season, but in fueling the Warriors to an NBA-record start in 2015–16 and managing to improve his own numbers (his scoring is currently up eight points per game from his MVP level) has made his case hard to ignore.

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